GM compensation plan to offer payments for accidents

JeffBennett

Bloomberg

Compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg says he’s ready to “rip up” and redo out of court settlements General Motors Co. made with victims of accidents involving cars with defective ignition switches as part of a broad settlement plan he unveiled in Washington today.

Under the program, Mr. Feinberg will provide compensation checks ranging from $20,000 to several million dollars to any driver, passenger, pedestrian or occupant of another vehicle who can show they were hurt in a crash involving one of 2.6 million cars GM has recalled after admitting they were equipped with faulty ignition switches.

The program has no overall limit, but a key condition is that the claimants show the vehicle’s air bags didn’t deploy in the crash, he said.

“If an air bag deployed, you’re out,” Mr. Feinberg said.

Any out-of-court death settlements connected to ignition switch litigation can be refiled, Mr. Feinberg said. If a new amount is applied, the money already paid out will be deducted from the total and a check cut to cover the remainder. Lawyers for some crash victims who settled with GM
GM, +0.19%
before it admitted to the ignition switch defects in February have sought to reopen those agreements on grounds that the auto maker improperly concealed information about the problem, which could cut power to air bags, power steering and power brakes.

GM has agreed to pay as many eligible claims that exist. Mr. Feinberg said GM has collected evidence of 3,500 death and injury claims involving the 2.6 million ignition switch vehicles, but those claims have yet to be vetted to see if they meet the requirements for the compensation plan.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.